(MENAFN - AFP) Russia has reached a compensation deal with France for the non-delivery of two Mistral warships, a Kremlin aide has said, but Paris on Friday denied that a final agreement has been hammered out.

The fate of the two Mistral helicopter carriers has plagued Franco-Russian ties for more than a year, following Paris' decision in November to put the 1.2-billion-euro ...

(MENAFN - AFP) The International Monetary Fund announced Friday the approval of a $1.7 billion loan installment to Ukraine despite uncertainty about the country's debt sustainability and a conflict with separatist forces.

The IMF executive board backed the release of the loan, part of a four-year $17.5 billion support program awarded in March as Ukraine's economy neared collapse ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Inflation in the 19-nation eurozone was unchanged in July while the jobless rate for June was also flat, suggesting the economy maintained only modest growth, official data showed Friday.

Analysts said the figures were disappointing, with no sign as yet that the European Central Bank's unprecedented economic stimulus programme is beginning to have a real impact ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Senior EU-IMF auditors on Friday held their first meetings with Greek ministers to finalise a new three-year bailout as the Athens stock market prepares to reopen after being shut down for over a month by the debt crisis.

Greece's main stock exchange in Athens will resume operations on Monday that were halted on June 26 as the crisis-hit government imposed ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Greece's main stock exchange in Athens will reopen on Monday after being closed for five weeks by the Greek debt crisis after the government imposed capital controls, a finance ministry source told AFP.

"The ministry's decision to reopen the Athens stock market has been signed," the source said on Friday.

(MENAFN - AFP) The EU said Friday it has opened an anti-trust probe into plans by US delivery service giant FedEx to buy Dutch rival TNT Express for 4.4 billion euros, a key tie-up for the e-commerce delivery business.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Brussels wanted to examine whether the deal would lead to higher prices for consumers who are increasingly ...